Okay y’all…I’m finally leaving Brugge, Belgium. I only had three nights booked originally and ended up extending my stay twice so I ended up staying for 9 nights. The only reason I’m even leaving after 9 days is because I’m on my way to go meet someone. 😉 It’s for the best I had other plans that forced me to leave Belgium because otherwise I’m not sure that I ever would have. Until they forced me out of the country for not having a visa and I got sent to Belgium prison. Everyone is so nice in Belgium though that if I had to pick a European prison to go to, I think it would be Belgium’s. Anyways, let’s get back on track. I stayed my first three nights at St Christopher’s Inn hostel and by the time I went to extend time, they didn’t have any room so I had to transfer to a new hostel which I am so thankful for. I ended up staying at the Lybeer Brugge Hostel from nights 4-9 and absolutely loved it. They actually had a kitchen there which St Christopher’s didn’t, so I was really happy about that. Eating out, especially in Western Europe, is incredibly expensive. Plus I enjoy cooking in the hostels. It’s a great way to save money and bond with your hostel mates. We are all budget traveling so most people cook at the hostel themselves and we all just cook and hangout. It’s fun.

Wow, I’m really getting ahead of myself here. Let’s start from the beginning. I just have so much to say and I’m so excited that this could end up being all over the place. I arrived off the train in Belgium and tried to grab a bus to the area of my hostel. At this point, my debit cards still weren’t working so I was relying completely on the limited amount of cash I had to get me around. The bus wouldn’t accept cash. My mom was trying to give me her card information so I could use hers on my Apple pay for the time being. Didn’t work. I got on the bus anyways, hoping I could grab a ticket online quickly. It worked. That was stressful. Otherwise I would’ve had a long hike to my hostel with all my bags. 

I get off the bus and I am head over heels in love with the city. Actually it started while I was on the bus, looking out. The homes are small, compact, colorful, and unique. They’re just lined up against each other. Bikes are tethered to the outside of homes. Everyone here owns and rides a bike. There’s very limited traffic. It’s a very accessible city to get around by foot or bike. There are canals running through the city. There are beautiful flowers everywhere. The city is exceptionally clean. It’s green. It’s vibrant. Every single local in that city is incredibly nice. You’re told that it’s rude and unusual to ask the locals in European countries, “how’s your day?” as they don’t do small talk, but in Brugge, they do. I had small talk with plenty of business owners and locals while out exploring. It reminded me of home. The midwest nice syndrome. 

There are three languages spoken in Belglum. The west speaks Dutch or Flemmish, the south speaks French, and the east speaks German. So you’re walking around and have no idea what languages are being spoken by the locals, in businesses, ect. Even the words and signs in businesses are written in different languages. I had no idea ever what I was reading or hearing except for when it was in French. 

I check into my hostel at St. Christopher’s and it was really cute. People were friendly. It wasn’t the most social hostel but honestly that was okay with me because after spending the time with my friends in Germany and the Netherlands, I was okay with having some time to myself. I checked in, took a nap, then set off to find some dinner and explore. Every place you look in Brugge, you can take a picture of. Like I’m serious. Every view, angle, building, canal is picture worthy. I had a really difficult time picking out photos for this post. The more I walked and explored, the harder I fell for the city. I felt the vibrant energy there and that feeling never left. It was radiating. I knew the moment I stepped foot off that bus that I would have a difficult time leaving there. I just really connected with Brugge. My cards still weren’t working here so I found a small dinner and continued to walk around for a long time but then went back to my hostel, tried to figure out the card situation with my mom and the banks, and then went to sleep. I was sleeping in a 12 bed dorm so it can be a little more difficult to get rest sleeping in the same room as that many people as everyone is coming and going at all times of the day and night. I had pretty respectful roommates during my time in Brugge for the most part, thankfully. It’s not always that way.. 

The next morning, I woke up, checked my bank account, and it still wasn’t working. So I set off for a long walk on the bike trail that followed the canals. There is windmill after windmill on the bike trail lining the city. They are all so beautiful and unique in their own way. I walked for miles. I couldn’t believe this city existed. It was unlike anywhere I’ve ever seen before. I finally stumbled upon a cute little cafe called ‘t Koffiehuisje to sit outside and enjoy a coffee and an authentic Belgium waffle. I was very excited to try the authentic waffles as I’ve heard they’re the best. I sat outside with my kindle and enjoyed people watching and reading. The waffles are very light and crisp, unlike American waffles. I actually started chatting with the owner and came to find out, the cafe had only been open for a few months. Her husband is the cook there. They ran a newspaper business for 25 years in that building and just had it converted earlier this year into the cafe. She was so very nice. Her and her husband deserve all the success with their business. 

I continued to explore the city. I walked everywhere. I couldn’t get enough of it. My card was finally fixed in the mid afternoon and I was so happy. I was looking forward to enjoying a real dinner and some Belgium beer. I stopped at the pub that’s attached to my hostel on the way back and had a Stella. It originates in Belgium of course and it was so much better than it tastes back home. Very crisp and fresh. I was reading and enjoying my kindle when I started meeting others from my hostel. Next thing you know, we’re a large group hanging out. I met a girl from Wisconsin named Kylee. It’s the first person I’ve met so far in my travels from Wisconsin. She’s from Rhinelander and she’s a professional snowboarder. I really don’t meet many other Americans while traveling. It felt a little like home to talk to her. Just extra comfortable. We had people from Canada, Germany, Belgium, England, Poland, and Australia in our group. I can’t remember everyone’s names, although I wish I could. I liked the two boys from Manchester in England because they made me think about Chris. We sat and got to know each other over a few pints, then headed out to grab some late dinner and more drinks. We stopped at a burger shop. We then found an Irish pub after. Y’all know at this point they’re my absolute favorite. I told everyone that we have to split the G, some of which have never done before. Every single one of us ordered a Guinness and split the G. Mine was ALMOST perfect. Maybe perfect. Depends on who you ask. We then had some baby Guinness of course. We sat around and talked, playing games. It was really fun getting to know everyone and we had a nice group. There’s this girl from Bristol, England and she was interesting. She has a huge personality and has an Instagram just for rating bathroom attempts and toilets in public places. So you view her Instagram and it’s a bunch of photos of her peeing in the woods, in random places, a bunch of toilets she visits and rates them. Amyen and I connected really well and he’s Canadian. There seems to be this rivalry between Canadians and people from the US. Canadians do not associate themselves as being American. Then you have Amy from Australia and she was one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met. It’s very normal for people in Europe to be traveling for a long time. We all seemed to connect easily which is always nice. We closed the place down and walked back to the hostel. I was in the stairwell afterwards Facetiming with Chris when a man walks up to me and sits down next to me. His name was Alvaro and he’s from Peru. We sat and talked for a long time. Until he started trying to hold my hands and touch my legs. Meanwhile, Chris is on Facetime with me during this entire conversation so I knew he could hear everything going on. I told Alvaro I was going to sleep soon and he left. We actually ended up being in the same dorm room. He asked me to hangout the next day but he messaged me in the morning and I never went with him.

The next morning, I woke up to an invite to go with my hostel mate Amyen to the city of Ghent. But I already had plans to take the train to the little town of Ostend. It was only an 18 minute train ride and there’s a beautiful beach there. You step out and it’s the most adorable beach town. Sailboats and yachts everywhere. The town itself is very clean and I didn’t find one spec of garbage on the beach. It was a very nice beach. You wouldn’t expect Belgium to have good beaches. I didn’t, anyways. Maybe that’s just me. The water was a bit on the cool side. I would’ve went in but didn’t want to leave my bags alone. You never know who’s walking around. I get to the beach and I immediately see a seal sunbathing. And then another one. I Facetime my mom right away so I can show my nephew. He loved it- it was really adorable. I love to Facetime him when I see animals because he gets just as excited as I do to see them. I chatted with my family for a minute and then continued on the beach. I walked the shoreline for a long time taking in my environment. My entire life, I’ve felt a deep connection to the ocean and a sense of security, peace and happiness anytime I’m around it. I found a nice spot to lay on the beach and sunbathe while I read my kindle for a couple hours. I’m on the last book of the ACOTAR series and it’s sooo good, it’s hard to put down. 

After it started getting later, I found a cute dinner spot with ocean views and enjoyed some spaghetti with a glass of wine, then continued walking around the city to explore. I found my train back and headed home. I got back to Brugge and went for a walk around the city. It’s also very beautiful after dark when the city is lit up. 

The next morning, I checked out of my hostel and took a bus to my new one. I prefer the new one a lot more. The atmosphere, location, and amenities were much better. I spent the next few days living like a local. I was slow traveling. Going on runs, visiting different cafes, trying new foods, walking everywhere and anywhere, hanging out with my hostel mates, and reading a lot. It actually felt really nice to live slowly. It was the first time I’d slowed down since before I left home. 

I made new friends at my hostel as I was there for 6 nights. My hostel mates quickly became family and the hostel felt like home to me. The staff at the hostel were so kind and welcoming. I connected a lot with the bartender there, Maria. She’s from Mexico City but is volunteering at the hostel for a month before she moves onto her next destination in Europe. It seemed as though most of the people at this hostel were from Latin America. There were a lot of people from Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia as well. So almost everyone was Spanish speaking. I was very immersed in Spanish conversation and music with I love. I took 6 years of Spanish classes between high school and college and have kept up with it since then. I love being able to practice with native Spanish speakers. 

One of the nights, Chris and I were on Facetime talking for a long time. I was at my hostel and I let him know I was going up to the bar to order another drink and would call him back. I got up to the bar and there was a man sitting there. He asked me to share a drink with him, bought me a drink, and introduced himself as Marcio. Marcio is from Africia but has spent a lot of years living in Belgium now. He just moved to Brugge from Brussels and is currently staying at the hostel while he is house hunting for a new apartment. Marcio’s English wasn’t great but he spoke French as well so with my bad French and his bad English, we were able to fully converse between the two languages. It was really fun to practice my French. He opened up to me a lot about his life as a child and what it was like growing up with his parents, especially his father. I think that’s why he seems so suppressed. We shared a couple drinks. He almost cried when telling me about his childhood. My heart broke for him. He told me he never opens up to anyone like this ever and wasn’t sure what it was about me that made him want to share. He asked me to go somewhere else for a few drinks as our hostel bar was closing soon. He said we were having good conversation and wanted it to continue. I told him I wanted to get a good night’s sleep so I could take a day trip in the morning to Ghent. He then asked me to go on a date the following day. I avoided the question and asked him something in return. Saved by the bell, we met a few other hostel mates. They were from Peru, a couple, and Spanish speaking only. There was also this man I met from Ukraine. He told me he was from Ukraine and then asked where I was from. As soon as I told him I was from the United States, he said, “woooooow” really loud in a high pitched and uncomfortable tone. He then told me that’s really crazy. They were all trying to get me to come out to the club. It was a Saturday night. Fine. Twist my arm. I went with the group. I spent the entire night speaking in Spanish and French as no one really spoke any English. I am so grateful for my ability to communicate in other languages because it’s really come in handy, especially the Spanish. Even though I’m not fluent in either of them, we made it work.

We walk to this club, Marcio pays for my entrance fee and my drinks. I texted Chris when I was at the hostel to let him know I met someone at the bar who had bought me a drink, but would be calling back soon. I guess that wasn’t happening anytime soon. We walk into the club and there are two very fit men half naked dancing on the bar tops. The club was massive. Packed. Where did this club even come from in the middle of this small city? It totally does not seem like it fits Brugge’s vibe. I was not expecting that. I danced with everyone on the dance floor. Marcio then attempted multiple times to kiss me and I excused myself to find the bathroom downstairs.

I was once again on my best brat behavior and Chris and I ended up getting into a huge fight that night. Like it was not good at all. I will spare you the details for the privacy of our relationship but let’s just say some words were shared and we had some serious making up to do at the end of the night. So I left the club without saying anything to anyone. I walk a bit and I sit against a wall outside of another bar because I am rapidly and angrily texting this British man, talking some shit as I like to do sometimes, when all of a sudden this man walks over to me from the bar across the street and sits next to me. Great. Just what I need. Another man to annoy me. He said he saw me from across the street and that I was really pretty. That’s another thing, I was drug out to the bars once again in basically my pjs. I was wearing white lounge shorts with an oversized comfort flannel with no makeup on and my hair in a claw clip. Like I was literally ready for bed. Here I am out at the clubs in my pjs getting hit on by these foreign men. He introduced himself and told me he’s visiting Belgium with his friend. They were both from the Netherlands. His friend then sees us talking and invites himself over. Great. Two of them. The first one who was speaking to me was definitely on some type of drug. It seemed to me like he was on Ketamine but I asked him what drugs he’s on and he denied it until I asked his friend which said they did cocaine. There it is. I knew my paramedic brain was still there somewhere. Although I still think it was Ketamine. They invited me back into the bar for a drink. I was pissed and happily accepted. They were two good looking guys but gave me some type of weird vibe that I was able to pick up on even after quite a few drinks. We chatted for a bit, I’m sure they could see how many drinks I’ve already had that night, and then asked me to come back to their place for a threesome. Great. My second invitation for a threesome with the foreign men. I politely declined, saying I had to get back to my hostel. One of them started caressing my cheek and rubbing my legs, trying to lure me in and not respecting me using the word “no” multiple times. Disgusting. Now I am really done. I got up, excused myself, and led myself out the door. What is up with men and their forwardness and being so pushy? It really creeps me out. I had had enough of men for the night.

I Facetime Chris and we talked for two hours, until 5 in the morning. We were able to work things out and a lot of apologies were shared, but I was wondering where that argument was going to take us. I went to sleep and woke up the next morning not feeling great. I took the day to recover and relax by walking around the city. 

The following day, I woke up early and got ready to take a day trip to Ghent. I made some breakfast and coffee at the hostel before leaving and I met a Canadian in the kitchen who asked where I was from. I told him where and he laughed and then said, “you’re really nice. Are you sure you’re from America?” I really, truly have had enough of the American jokes and comments. It makes me feel like everyone hates us. No one is rude or malicious to me or intentionally tries to hurt my feelings, but it doesn’t feel great to know everyone in the world hates your country. I had this hostel mate at this hostel who was from India. He told me that him and his friends both got full ride scholarships to Harvard in America right before Trump was reelected as president and they both turned down FULL RIDE scholarships to HARVARD because they didn’t feel safe there. That is seriously insane. 

Ghent was incredible. It was like Brugge, but much bigger. Cute, colorful, smaller houses and canals everywhere. I made my way to the Gravensteen right away. It’s the Ghent castle. I paid for admission and got myself an audio guide to walk around the castle with. I spent almost two hours there. I really loved it. I learned all about how Phillip of Alsace had gotten Elizabeth (who was a heiress of North France) to marry him at ages 14 and 15 so he could be married into her family, become king, and obtain a bunch of land. They got married right away and Phillip became king. They had this castle built in the middle ages around 1180. The purpose of the castle was to be a residence for the Counts of Flanders. It also signified power and intimidation, reminding the citizens of Ghent who was in charge. The castle is massive and there was a moat that surrounded it. Not only was it used as a residence, it was also used as a fortress, courthouse, and prison. There were torture chambers in there which were really sad to see. They even had some of the original execution tools in there. It was wild back in the day, huh? There were so many stairs in that castle. The audio guide said that Philip’s legs were so large and strong from running up and down them all day every day that he literally had to wear skirts because no pants fit his muscular legs. Philip found out about an affair Elizabeth was having and tortured the man. Elizabeth died years before Philip and he remarried. He was never able to have children. He died ten years after the castle was built.

After vising the castle, I continued to walk around town forever just exploring. I started to get hungry and found a super cute place that was sat along one of the canals. I enjoyed an irish coffee and a croque and salad direclty near the canal. It was really nice. I continued walking and siteseeing everything there was to see in Ghent. It truly is a beautiful city. I take the train back to Brugge and I felt home again. Nothing compares to Brugge. There is something about that city that’s indescribable. 

I was making dinner in my hostel when I met this woman named Patricia. Easy for me to remember as that’s my mom’s name. She was originally from Ireland but had been living in Scotland for years now. I absolutely love her accent. We sat and ate dinner together. She is 67 years old and one of my favorite people I’ve met so far along my travels. We opened up to each other quickly. She made me feel comfortable and safe. A very wholesome human. She has two sons. One of her sons got meningitis when he was a small child, creating a lot of brain damage that has still affected him today. He is disabled now and lives with her. He is 30 years old. She also has a 25 year old son who is studying to be a lawyer. He just finished his masters and is looking for a job. He sounds really smart. She’s the oldest of five children and has four younger brothers. The brother nearest to her in age has been living with stage four pancreatic cancer for almost five years. He will not tell a single soul any updates about his cancer, even his wife. The family knows not to ask. She talks him up so much and about how close they are. It reminds me of me and my younger brother. You can tell she’s a very family oriented person. Her mother was very religious and strict growing up, not allowing any swearing in the house, drugs, or drinking. Patricia says that her and her younger brother were very wild though. That’s how she knows her son who hadn’t dated in years was just hooking up with women. She told me how she used to be a party girl and sleep around a lot when she was young. She said you have to experience these things when you’re young so you have no regrets. I love her for that. She was so open. Her mother found out her father was cheating when Patricia was in her 20’s. Her parents divorced and her mother never said a single word again to her father as soon as she found out about the affair. That is crazy for me to try to wrap my head around. Patricia has been married twice. She said after her second husband, she used to just use men for sex and dates. Now, she’s not interested in any of that anymore. She enjoys being alone and focusing on her family. She gave me good advice to always live for me, never lose sight of my hopes and dreams, and always stay open to the world. I will never forget Patricia and our time together.

I spent the next day exploring a couple local breweries and hanging out with my hostel mates. I met some more people that day. James from Ireland was my favorite one. You know, I’ve met a lot of people from Ireland during my travels and they are my absolute favorite people. I vibe so well with each and every one of them. I absolutely love their energy. They may hate me for saying this but they have American energy. They’re loud, outgoing, and positive people. Good energy to be around and I really like it. Except when James asked where I was from and I told him the Midwest in the US, he thought I meant Texas. James needs to work on his geography. Then there was Vivianna or Vivi from Bogota, Colombia. I told her how I backpacked around Colombia a few years ago and it was absolutely incredible. Colombia really has a bad image but it’s such a beautiful place and the people are very friendly. There was Aldir from Brazil who was so much fun and had great energy. There was Juan from Argentina who was also one of my favorites. He was outgoing and goofy and absolutely 100% himself at all times. I really admire people like that. He had been living in Oklahoma last year for an entire year to learn English and work. His English was pretty good now but when he was trying to explain that it was difficult to learn English he said, “I am hard” instead of “it’s hard” and I was like Juan, do not say that. That is not a good thing to say to strangers. We also had Elliot from Australia. Elliot had left his job to pursue a career in music, traveling Europe with his guitar. He was living in London to get his music career started and has since then been all over Europe doing gigs and playing in city centers. He ended up playing for our hostel last night and he is incredibly talented. His voice is so good. He’s actually releasing his first album in October and I can’t wait for it to come out. 

We all went out together and we had so much fun. Everyone was singing and dancing and drinking. James was not ready to be done drinking so we raced to an Irish pub so we could get a Guinness even though James hates Guinness, he agreed to drink one with me so we could split the G. The pub would not let us in but we found a fun spot to go after that. I learned a lot about Cuba from this group. Did you know that in Cuba they don’t eat meat or drink milk? Like there’s none of it on the island at all. They blamed the US for not being willing to export it there. But the country and people are incredibly poor and apparently live a very sad and non-nutritional life. That breaks my heart. James says that in Ireland everyone loves Americans and welcomes them. He told me that Americans are like celebrities there. I guess I know where I’m going as soon as I’m fed up with all of the Europeans giving me shit about where I’m from, haha. This trip has actually really made me want to visit Ireland before I return home though because I love the people and their culture. I think I’d have a really great time. Plus it would be awesome to be able to see all of the people I’ve met along the way. I miss my girls Leah and Emilie from Ireland every day and hope to see them again someday. 

We return back to the hostel and James and Vivi are so incredibly drunk that they can’t figure out how to get their key to work in their room door. They were also being very loud. One of the workers came down and yelled at us that is was 4’oclock in the morning and we needed to be quiet. I don’t know how I got roped into this because I didn’t say anything. But James had two complaints filed about him and also told me he got a 50 euro fine because he threw up all over the bedroom. That’s a rough night. There was a wasted drunk man in mine and Juan’s room who had stolen Juan’s bed so he had to sleep elsewhere. 

I spent the next day really immersing myself in the city. I needed new fall shoes as I’ve been wearing sandals and it’s actually freezing here so I set off to find some and grab a few new toiletries that I needed. I sat on benches and just sat with myself, thinking of the longing I will experience when I leave Brugge. I was devastated to leave. In the evening, Elliot was signed up to play music live for our hostel. I cooked some dinner and we all gathered around to watch him. It was really special and very emotional. I was feeling all the feels. Longing, sadness, happiness, homesickness, happiness, gratefulness. I mean I was an emotional mess and just trying to work through and sit with all the feelings I was experiencing. I was sitting in a room with other solo travelers who were doing the same thing I was doing. They’ve left home alone to explore this great big world and we became family over the days. We sang and laughed together and I will never, ever forget those memories or people. The memory and moment is very special to me. I went to my room and packed my bags for my departure and fell asleep. 

I woke up this morning tired and in a daze. Feeling mixed emotions. I was feeling sadness to leave Brugge, but excitement about where I was going and who I was seeing today. Can you guess who? Do you remember that English boy who I met in Rome and we ended up traveling for two weeks together?! I’m seeing Chris today. 🙂 We had made plans a couple weeks ago to meet in London this weekend. So we’ve rented an Airbnb and now I’m currently sitting in a coffee shop in London waiting for his arrival! I absolutely cannot wait to see him again. I am going to my first ever live soccer (football) game this weekend. It’s Chris’ favorite team. I am really excited for the UK soccer experience. 

I was ready to leave this morning and hugged and said goodbye to my new friends which is always difficult. Toro, an elderly man, told me I need to buy a trolly for all my bags or else I’ll end up with back pain like him. I thanked him for the advice and headed to the train station. 

I was really nervous how I’d feel about the train ride today as I had to take the under-the-ocean English channel tunnel. I was worried about the anxiety I’ve been feeling on trains since my SVT episode. Do you know though, that ever since I went to that church service in Germany and prayed about it that my train anxiety has been minimal to none? Crazy how that works sometimes. 

I have made it to London and am patiently waiting at a local coffee shop for Chris to get here. I cannot wait for our weekend together. London is huge but for some reason I’m a little nervous about running into the French doctor I had a thing with my first time in London. I broke things off with him when I was in Vienna and it was tough. So I am hoping to stay clear of that situation this weekend.

I’ll send an update again in a few days after the weekend.

Chat soon,

Xo,

Kals